Decoding Olfaction
Simple, mobile, non-invasive tests for real-time detection of infectious state or health status in communities
Goal
To create a low-cost, deployable device for non-invasively monitoring and diagnosing diseases in real time with a simple breath test.
Background and Current Landscape
Current approaches for infectious disease monitoring use invasive tests that require biospecimen collection and often long wait times for results. This inhibits the ability to screen large populations in resource-limited settings in a timely way for test results to be actionable. Breath tests can change this by serving as a rapid, non-invasive method for disease monitoring and detection with real time results through the capture and analysis of volatile compounds.
Investments in this subdomain aim to advance critical technologies in data interpretation of volatile compounds collected from breath through AI/ML, as well as approaches to enhance the sensitivity of volatile detection technologies to identify disease-associated signals and increase the understanding of the biological mechanisms behind olfaction. The goal is to deploy low-cost, sensitive diagnostics for effective, large-scale health monitoring outside a clinical setting.
Potential Applications
Identifying Signatures of Disease
Accelerator’s Applications of Interest:
- Malaria
- TB
- HIV
Potential Broader Impacts:
- Population-wide understanding of “healthy” breath signatures
- Metabolic diseases
- Oncology
- Neurological disorders
Detecting Volatiles from Breath
Accelerator’s Applications of Interest:
- Infectious diseases
- Identifying asymptomatic spreaders
Potential Broader Impacts:
- Metabolic diseases
- Oncology
- At-home monitoring
Predicting How Volatiles Smell
Accelerator’s Applications of Interest:
- Manipulation of disease vectors (i.e., mosquito repellents or insecticides)
- AI-enabled platform for insect control
Potential Broader Impacts:
- Food and nutrition
Announcements
Selected Partners
